The partial representation of phrase structure in our corpora is not intended to make a theoretical statement, but was adopted for practical reasons. Certain phrases are generally omitted in the annotation scheme because their boundaries are too difficult to define. The prime example is VP. The problematic character of VP is particularly obvious in early Middle English, where the order of the verb and its complements is in flux (at least on the surface). But even in Present-Day English, the attachment site of verbal adjuncts is systematically ambiguous between low attachment to VP and high attachment at the clause level. Other categories, such as DP, were omitted because the cost of including them outweighs their usefulness. Intermediate projections are omitted for both reasons. In no case should the lack of any particular phrase label be taken to imply that earlier forms of English failed to include the corresponding syntactic category. The trees in the corpora are simply underspecified.
The examples in this section of the manual are constructed in Modern
English so as to be maximally accessible. The remainder of the manual
contains examples from the corpora. The examples are mostly from late
Middle English and Early Modern English; examples from early Middle
English are included where they are necessary to make a linguistic point.
Not all phrases are labelled with a dash tag, and more than one such
tag is possible (IP-INF-PRP = purpose infinitive,
NP-SBJ-RSP = resumptive subject NP, etc.).
Exception: IP can immediately dominate
the following word-level constituents:
Exception: Post-head modifiers project
structure beyond the word level, even when they consist of a single
word. Like pre-head modifiers, they are represented as sisters to the
head.
Exception 1: Certain heads, such as
determiners (D), modals (MD), or particles
(RP), never project a phrase. Verbs generally do not project a
VP, but see Verb phrase for exceptions.
Exception 2: Single-word pre-head
modifiers do not project a phrasal node if the phrasal node would share
the same category as the head.
The most common types of categorial mismatches between heads and
phrases are the following:
As indicated by the question marks in the above lists, it is not
always clear whether a particular word modifies an elided head or is
itself the head of the phrase. It is mainly for this reason that we do
not attempt to make a systematic distinction between the two cases.
The most common elision case is of NPs containing only a determiner and
an adjective (or sometimes only an adjective).
General principles
As just mentioned, the structures in our corpora generally include
neither a VP nor intermediate projections like I'. As a result, IP
immediately dominates all verbs (to be understood in a broad sense,
including modals and auxiliaries) and sentence-level constituents. A
typical parse structure is the following:
(IP-MAT (NP-SBJ (NPR Mary))
(HVP has)
(BEN been)
(VAG meaning)
(IP-INF (TO to)
(VB go))
(PP (P for)
(NP (D a) (N week)))))
Dash tags (or extended tags)
(IP-MAT (NP-TMP (N Yesterday)) ← temporal NP
(NP-SBJ (NPR Mary)) ← subject
(VBD told)
(NP-OB2 (NPR Jane)) ← second object
(CP-THT (C that)
(IP-SUB (NP-SBJ (PRO she))
(VBD studied)
(NP-MSR (QP (ADVR too) (Q much))) ← measure NP
(PP (P during)
(NP (D the) (N+N weekend)))))) < no dash tag
(IP-MAT (NP-SBJ (NPR Mary))
(ADVP (ADV happily))
(VBD put)
(NP-OB1 (D the) (N book))
(ADVP-LOC (ADV there))
(ADVP-TMP (ADV+WARD afterward)))
(IP-MAT (NP-SBJ (NPR Mary))
(VBD put)
(NP-OB1 (D the) (N book))
(PP (P on)
(NP (D the) (N table)))
(PP (P on)
(NP (NPR Saturday))))
Structural principles
(NP (D the) (N girl))
(PP (P in)
(NP (D the) (N spring)))
(ADJP (ADV very) (ADJ big))
(NP (D a) (ADJ big) (N cat)) ← single-word case
(NP (D a)
(ADJP (ADV very) (ADJ big)) ← multi-word case
(N cat))
Postposed ELSE, ENOUGH are
treated slightly differently in
the PPCME2 and the later corpora.
(NP (ADJ various) (ADJ black) (NS cats)))
(NP (ADJ black) (NS cats)
(ADJP (ADJ galore)))
(NP (D a) (VAN forsaken) (N castle))
(NP (D an) (N castle)
(RRC (VAN forsaken)) ← RRC = reduced relative clause
(IP-MAT (NP-SBJ (NPR Mary))
(VBD saw)
(NP-OB1 (D the) (N man))
(PP (P with) ← high by default
(NP (D the) (N telescope))))
(NP (D the)
(N story)
(CP-REL (WNP-1 0)
(C that)
(IP-SUB (NP-ACC *T*-1)
(NP-SBJ (PRO they))
(VBP tell)))
(PP (P about) ← high by default
(NP (PRO the)
(N king))))
(NP (D the)
(N story)
(RRC (BAG being)
(VAN told))
(PP (P about) ← high by default
(NP (PRO the)
(N king))))
Internal structure of phrases
The internal structure of all nonclausal phrases is fundamentally similar.
(NP (D the) (NS girls)
(PP (P on)
(NP (D the) (N beach))))
(NP (Q many) (ADJ happy) (NS girls) ← two single-word pre-head modifiers
(PP (P on)
(NP (D the) (VAN overcrowded) (N beach))))
(NP (ADJP (ADJ happy) (CONJ and) (VAN excited)) ← multi-word pre-head modifier
(NS girls))
(NP (Q many) ← single-word pre-head modifier
(ADJP (ADV very) (ADJ happy)) ← multi-word pre-head modifier
(NS girls)
(PP (P on)
(NP (D the) (VAN overcrowded) (N beach))))
(NP (QP (ADV very) (Q many)) ← multi-word pre-head modifier
(ADJP (ADV very) (ADJ happy)) ← multi-word pre-head modifier
(NS girls)
(PP (P on) ← post-head modifier
(NP (D the) (N beach)
(PP (P with)
(NP (D the) (ADJ big) (NS dunes))))))
(ADJP (ADV very) (ADJ happy)) ← single-word pre-head modifier
(PP (ADV especially) ← single-word pre-head modifier
(P on)
(NP (NPRS Saturdays)))
(PP (ADV right) ← single-word pre-head modifier
(P up)
(NP (D the) (N street)))
(ADVP (ADV very) (ADV slowly)) ← single-word pre-head modifier
EX, MAN, PRO, ?D, ?ONE, ?OTHER(S), ?PRO$, ?Q, (QR, etc.)
VAN, VAG, (HAN, HAG, etc.), SUCH, QR, ?ONE, ?OTHER
(IP-MAT (IP-MAT-1 (NP-SBJ (NPR Mary))
(VBD gave)
(NP-OB2 (NPR Jane))
(NP-OB1 (D a) (ADJ red) (N ribbon)))
(CONJP (CONJ and)
(IP-MAT=1 (NP-OB2 (NPR Lucy))
(NP-OB1 (D a) (ADJ blue))))) ← elided head noun
Internal structure of clauses
Clauses are labelled either CP or IP. CPs contain
either a complementizer or a wh- position (or both). IPs contain
neither. All IPs and CPs carry dash tags indicating their subtype, as
follows.
IP-ABS
absolute clause
IP-IMP
imperative
IP-INF
infinitive
IP-INF-ABS
absolute infinitive
IP-INF-ADT
adjunct infinitive
IP-INF-DEG
degree infinitive
IP-INF-PRP
purpose infinitive
IP-MAT
declarative matrix IP
IP-PPL
participial clause
IP-PPL-ABS
absolute participial clause
IP-SMC
small clause
IP-SUB
subordinate IP
CP-ADV
adverbial clause
CP-CAR
clause-adjoined relative
CP-CLF
IT cleft
CP-CMP
comparative
CP-DEG
degree complement
CP-EOP
empty-operator CP
CP-EXL
exclamative
CP-FRL
free relative
CP-QUE
question
CP-REL
relative clause
CP-THT
THAT clause
CP-TMC
TOUGH movement complement
Ordinary IPs
All IPs except subjectless
imperatives and subjectless
infinitives have a subject in our annotation scheme. If the subject
is not overt, an empty
subject is added. Clauses generally do not contain VP (but see
Verb phrase). As a rule, daughters of IP
are phrasal (but see
Internal structure of
phrases for exceptions).
(IP-MAT (CONJ But) ← sentential conjunction
(INTJ alas) ← single-word interjection
(, ,)
(NP-SBJ (PRO we))
(MD will) ← modal
(NEG not) ← negation
(Q all) ← floated quantifier
(VB end) ← verb
(RP up)) ← particle
(PP (P with)
(NP-OB1 (PRO$ our) (N favorite)))
(. .))
( (IP-MAT-SPE (' ')
(INTJ Yes) ← single-word interjection
(, ,)
(' ')
(IP-MAT-PRN (NP-SBJ (PRO he))
(VBD seyde)) ← verb
(, ,)
(' ')
(NP-SBJ (PRO I))
(MD shall) ← modal
(VB promyse) ← verb
(NP-OB2 (PRO you))
(IP-INF (TO to) ← auxiliary
(VB fullfylle) ← verb
(NP-OB1 (PRO$ youre) (N desyre)))
(. .)
(' '))
(ID CMMALORY,667.4880))
( (IP-MAT-SPE (CONJ for) ← conjunction
(NP-SBJ (PRO he)
(CP-REL (WNP-1 0)
(C that)
(IP-SUB (NP-SBJ *T*-1)
(MD shall) ← modal
(VB pulle) ← verb
(NP-OB1 (PRO hit))
(RP oute)))) ← particle
(MD shall) ← modal
(DO do) ← verb
(NP-OB1 (PRO hit))
(PP (P with)
(NP (Q litill) (N myght)))
(. .)
(' '))
(ID CMMALORY,46.1512))
( (IP-MAT-SPE (CONJ and) ← conjunction
(ADVP (ADV ellis))
(NP-SBJ (PRO I))
(MD wolde) ← modal
(HV have) ← auxiliary
(BEN bene) ← verb
(ADJP (ADJ lothe)
(PP (P as)
(NP (Q ony) (N knyght)
(CP-REL (WNP-1 0)
(C that)
(IP-SUB (NP-SBJ *T*-1)
(VBP lyvith)))))
(IP-INF (FOR for) (TO to) ← auxiliary material
(VB sle)
(NP-OB1 (D a) (N lady))))
(. .)
(' '))
(ID CMMALORY,51.1701))
Imperatives (IP-IMP)
Imperatives are labelled IP-IMP. Only overt subjects are included in the annotation.
( (IP-IMP-SPE (CONJ but)
(VBI saye)
(CP-THT (C 0)
(IP-SUB (NP-SBJ (PRO ye))
(BEP are)
(VAN diseased)))
(. ,))
(ID CMMALORY,4.83))
( (IP-IMP (CONJ for)
(VBI witte)
(NP-SBJ (PRO ye)) ← overt subject
(ADVP (ADV wele))
(CP-THT (C +tat)
(IP-SUB (NP-SBJ (NPR god))
(MD may)
(VB se)
(NP-OB1 (CONJ ba+te) (N iuil) (CONJ and) (N gude))))
(. ;))
(ID CMBENRUL,12.418))
Non-wh CPs
THAT clauses (CP-THT), degree complements (CP-DEG), and certain adverbial clauses (CP-ADV) have the following basic structure:
(CP (C THAT/0)
(IP ...))
The complementizer position is always included; when not filled by an overt complementizer, it contains 0 (zero).
(NODE (PP (P so)
(CP-ADV (C that)
(IP-SUB (NP-MSR (NP (NUM thre) (NS dayes))
(CONJP (CONJ and)
(NP (NUM thre) (NS nyghtes))))
(NP-SBJ (PRO he))
(BED was)
(ADJP (ADJ specheles)))))
(ID CMMALORY,6.172))
(NODE (PP (P til)
(CP-ADV (C that)
(IP-SUB (NP-SBJ (PRO ye))
(VBP see)
(CP-THT (C 0) ← empty complementizer
(IP-SUB (NP-SBJ (PRO ye))
(VBP go)
(PP (P unto)
(NP (D the) (ADJR wers))))))))
(ID CMMALORY,13.393))
(NODE (PP (P whan)
(CP-ADV (C 0)
(IP-SUB (NP-SBJ (NP (D the) (N duke))
(CONJP (CONJ and)
(NP (PRO$ his) (N wyf))))
(BED were)
(VBN comyn)
(PP (P unto)
(NP (D the) (N kynge))))))
(ID CMMALORY,2.11))
(NODE (IP-SUB (NP-SBJ (PRO we))
(VBP departe)
(PP (P from)
(ADVP (ADV hens)))
(ADVP (ADV sodenly))
(, ,)
(CP-ADV (C that)
(IP-SUB (NP-SBJ (PRO we))
(MD maye)
(VB ryde)
(NP-MSR (Q all) (N nyghte))
(PP (P unto)
(NP (PRO$ oure) (ADJ owne) (N castell))))))
(ID CMMALORY,2.18))
(NODE (IP-SUB (NP-SBJ (PRO he))
(VBD understood)
(CP-THT (C that)
(IP-SUB (NP-SBJ (NPR syre) (NPR Ector))
(BED was)
(NEG not)
(NP-OB1 (PRO$ his) (N fader)))))
(ID CMMALORY,9.271))
(NODE (ADVP (ADVR so) (ADV harde)
(CP-DEG (C that)
(IP-SUB (NP-SBJ (N horse) (CONJ and) (N man))
(VBD felle)
(PP (P to)
(NP (D the) (N erthe))))))
(ID CMMALORY,17.538))
(NODE (ADVP (ADVR so) (ADV merveillously)
(CP-DEG (C that)
(IP-SUB (NP-OB1 (N doubte))
(NP-SBJ-1 (PRO it))
(BED was)
(IP-INF-1 (TO to)
(VB here)
(PP (P of)
(NP (D that) (N bataille))))
(PP (P for)
(NP (D the) (ADJ grete) (N blood) (N shedynge))))))
(ID CMMALORY,68.2325))